HONOLULU - A Baldwin High School alumnus was one of five University of Hawaii-Manoa undergraduates to receive a Sony Vaio laptop package last week.
The Sony Technology Award came at an opportune time for Luke Dumaran, who aspires to become a special education teacher. As an elementary education major at UH on track to graduate in 2012, he is required to have a laptop - which he would have not been able to afford as a student on financial aid.
Sony offered the Vaio E-series laptops, Bloggie HD cameras, Walkman S series and 8-gigabyte memory cards - worth a total of about $1,200 at the education rate - to students at several colleges and universities, including UH-Manoa.
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LUKE DUMARAN
Receives a new laptrop
To be selected for this hardware, students needed to maintain at least a 3.5 grade-point average, be a member of an underrepresented group in higher education, have financial need and contribute significant service to the community and/or campus.
Dumaran holds a near perfect grade-point average and gives his time to the community. For example, he joined the Transdisciplinary Motor Clinic held at UH-Manoa, where he helped lead children ages 5 to 9 years old through physical education classes and exercises designed to improve their gross and fine motor skills and object manipulation. He also is a judo enthusiast.
The youngest of five children, Dumaran would be the first in his family to earn a college degree. He is a 2005 graduate of Baldwin.
The five students were honored at a ceremony Thursday in Sinclair Library's Heritage Reading Room. The other students winning the laptops were Jessica Ayau, a secondary education major; Rebecca Fono-imoana, a natural resources and environmental management major; Filipe Palma, an architecture major; and Jovana Shigetani, nursing major.
"We are appreciative to Sony for their generous donation, and honored to present such an important academic tool to our award winners," said UH Vice Chancellor for Students Francisco J. Hernandez. "These recipients were chosen because of their academic accomplishments, and commitment to serve the community where they are pursuing their university degrees."
